Italian marine asks SC permission to go back after stroke

New Delhi: Massimiliano Latorre, one of the Italian marines facing murder charges in India, has submitted a request to the Supreme Court to allow him to return to Italy for a “more rapid and complete recovery” after he suffered a condition similar to a mild stroke. Latorre’s lawyers submitted a request to the Supreme Court of India for his return to Italy to allow his more rapid and complete recovery, ANSA News Agency reported quoting the Italian Defence Ministry. An initial hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. The request for return of chief Latorre is “motivated by the illness that necessitated admission (last Sunday) in a hospital in New Delhi, the agency said. [caption id=“attachment_1409715” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, the two Italian marines accused of killing Indian fishermen. AP[/caption] Latorre was hospitalised with a condition similar to a mild stroke earlier this week. Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti had also flown back to check on his condition and show support for members of his family, who are with him in India. The marine is being treatment by the neurology department after he lost consciousness due to mild cerebral ischemia, or restriction of blood supply, the doctors were quoted as saying by the news agency. He is responding well to the treatment. After the incident, Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini had said in Rome, “As it has always been in these months, we follow the case of the two marine riflemen every day, with the aim of bringing them back to Italy, it is a priority for the government.” “I feel close to Massimiliano Latorre and I wish with all my heart that he can get back as soon as possible,” Mogherini had said in a statement. Latorre and Salvatore Girone are charged with murder of two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission while guarding the privately owned Italian-flagged oil-tanker MT Enrica Lexie off the coast of Kerala on February 15, 2012. They are living at the Italian embassy here after being detained two-and-a-half-years ago. Rome has protested the long series of delays in the case, which has soured diplomatic ties between Italy and India. PTI